Meet Bink and Gollie, two precocious little
girls — one tiny, one tall, and both utterly irrepressible. Setting out from
their super-deluxe tree house and powered by plenty of peanut butter (for Bink)
and pancakes (for Gollie), they share three comical adventures involving
painfully bright socks, an impromptu trek to the Andes, and a most unlikely
marvelous companion. No matter where their roller skates take them, at the end
of the day they will always be the very best of friends. Full of quick-witted
repartee, this brainchild of Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo and award-winning
author Alison McGhee is a hilarious ode to exuberance and camaraderie,
imagination and adventure, brought to life through the delightfully kinetic
images of Tony Fucile.

My Review:

This story, written like three smaller stories, is about two
friends whose imagination allows them to enjoy their friendship and go on mini
adventures together. The two are quite hilarious and caring at the same time.

Bink, the younger of the two friends is full of wild notions
and demands Gollie’s attention. Her energy is contagious throughout the pages.
Even her appearance was energizing. Her hair stands in every direction and her
mismatched clothes and socks set her as the comical character. Bink is the
initiator, she always devising new plans and creates excitement in the most
mundane occurrences such as buying a pair of socks.

Gollie, on the other hand, is much more reserved. She is the
mature one of the pair and appears more stable than Bink; She even looks after
Bink in an older-sister sort of way. They make a great pair. Gollie is taller
than Bink, has straight brown hair that is topped off cleanly with a bow. Her
appearance, like Bink, suggests the type of character she is. Each girl has a
real character flaw; Gollie is a tad controlling while Bink is stubborn. I was
glad to see these characters in a children’s story because they were people I
already knew and I’m sure children could relate to these qualities. I’ve worked
in daycare, and I know children do NOT always get along.

As for the plot, it was a laugh fest. From buying outrageous
socks, climbing the Andes Mountains, and ice-skating with a goldfish, the two
friends are impossibly hilarious. What I love about this story is that Bink and
Gollie’s friendship isn’t just a wacky adventure all the time. They have their
disagreements and real struggles.

Also, DiCamillo and McGhee do not shy from a mature voice
just because it is a children’s book. I think this is necessary to challenge
children. For example,

One more thing I would like to comment on is the story’s
illustrations. Fucile did an amazing job with the illustrations in this story.
Since the two friends are the only characters in the story, they are depicted
in their very own world. It is sketched and left in black and white with gray
shading. Bink and Gollie are almost always depicted in color along with any
element in the story that is directly related to the two of them. Fucile’s use
of color emphasizes the energy the two girls have together and of the
imagination that bodies forth throughout the novel. On page 22 Fucile depicts
the two girls as separate using borders around them. This is when the two were
in dispute. Beneath this drawing however, the girls are drawn completely gray
and the borders are lost. I think Fucile really understood the theme in his art
because, based on the previous description I shared, the grey depicts the
loneliness the friends felt without the other and that, despite their
differences, they were the same in their need for the other.

I give this a five out of five foxes. I think
Roald Dahl would be really proud of this story. Even though it is a children’s
story, I enjoy reading it still and will most likely read it again in the
future. The story is full of compromise, and the adorable and innocent play of
the two friends. The story regards children with maturity and the ability to
come to compromise on their own. This is truly a marvelous book and a treasure
for any bookshelf.